Australia's Next Consul-General in Hong Kong - Ms Michaela Browning

Australia’s Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, has announced the appointment of Ms Michaela Browning as Australia’s next Consul-General in Hong Kong.

Australia and Hong Kong enjoy a warm bilateral relationship built on strong people-to-people connections and deep economic ties. Around 100,000 Australians live in Hong Kong, and approximately 96,000 people from Hong Kong live in Australia. Over 400 Australian undergraduate students have been funded to study and undertake internships in Hong Kong under the New Colombo Plan.

Hong Kong is a valued partner in APEC, the World Trade Organization and other multilateral organisations. Hong Kong is also Australia’s leading business base in East Asia, and more than 600 Australian businesses have offices in the city. In 2015, total two-way trade was HK$91.3 billion.

Ms Browning is a senior career public servant and was most recently Head of Investment, Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade). She has held a range of senior positions including Head of Established Markets and Special Adviser to the CEO on Strategy and China (Austrade) and Senior Adviser to the then Defence and Foreign Ministers. Ms Browning was also a Trade Negotiator at the Doha Development Round and for the free trade agreements Australia negotiated with the USA and Singapore. She has previously served overseas in Thailand and Singapore.

Ms Browning holds a Masters in Foreign Affairs & Trade and a Bachelor of Economics with Honours, both from Monash University.